Ripple Labs is giving nothing away in a lawsuit accusing the firm of selling “unregistered securities” and so far has brought in high profiled Mary Jo White and her enforcement chief, Andrew Ceresney, to represent the company in court.
Mary Jo White previously held the Chair position at the Security Exchanges Commission (SEC) and will now look to get Ripple vindicated.
Last month, Ripple XRP investor Ryan Coffey claimed to have lost $551.81 in trading the token, citing that it should be registered as a security with the U.S. SEC.
According to the filed complaint, Ripple maintains a “centralized XRP” ledger for its token to enable the company profit from the high market prices at the expense of investors.
Coffey has hired James Taylor-Copeland of San Diego securities with the goal of rescinding the purchase of $300 million worth of XRP and establishing a precedent for the token to be a legal security.
So far, Ripple lawyers have filed a request for the ‘lawsuit’ to be heard at a Federal court, defying the plaintiff’s claim that the case should be handled at the San Francisco State court.
Notably, a recent case tagged ‘Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund’ has set precedents that must come into play according to Taylor Copeland – the Cyan case was decided by the state supreme court.
Ripple’s attorneys, however, have pointed at differences between the precedent and the current lawsuit, remarking that the “federal court has jurisdiction (to preside) under the Class Action Fairness Act, noting that Cyan didn’t address whether CAFA expressly permits removal of those claims.”
Following an end to the court session an unnamed spokeswoman for Ripple, admitted they feel confident they would gain victory in a case she dubbed ‘opportunistic.’
On the other side of the coin, Ryan’s defense, Copeland claims the decision to take the lawsuit to the Federal Court in the Northern District of California was ‘entirely improper’ and will try till the last minute to route the case back to the Supreme Court.
With a final decision yet to be made, there are still chances that the court ruling ends up in Ripple’s favor.
Otherwise, losing $300 million worth of XRP and being listed as security will be a massive blow for the Ripple project and likely affect the token’s place in the top three cryptocurrencies.